Amtrak Launches Pay-phone Service

NEW YORK -- Amtrak has introduced pay telephone service on its Metroliner trains between New York and Washington, the passenger rail corporation said Monday.

The service, which uses cellular telephone technology, is a joint venture between Amtrak and Railfone Inc., a subsidiary of Oak Brook, Ill.-based Airfone Inc.

The service allows calls charged to major credit cards to be made from telephones in 46 dining, club and coach cars. Three telephones will be on each of the 22 Metroliner trains that make the daily three-hour trip.

Elyse G. Wander, Amtrak vice president for corporate planning and development, said she could not specify estimated revenues but said the phone service is expected to recoup about $1.5 million in capital costs, including equipment and labor, in the first year of operation.

``It`s a break-even proposition for the first year,`` Wander said. Subsequent profits will be equally divided between Amtrak and Railfone, she said.

A call on the system costs $5 for the first three minutes and $1 a minute thereafter, regardless of whether it is local or long-distance, Amtrak said. Passengers can place calls anywhere in the United States, including Hawaii, Alaska and Puerto Rico.

The cellular telephone network is complete over about 90 percent of the 226-mile route, but service will be interrupted when trains enter non-service zones. Calls placed through the service are transmitted by low-frequency radio to ground stations, whence they are switched to local phone systems.

Wander said Amtrak envisions expansion of the system throughout the Northeast and to the rest of the country as cellular technology becomes available through local telephone companies.

Telephone service using microwaves was available on Metroliners from 1968 through 1979 but was phased out.